The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) held its annual offsite meeting of the board of directors in Ho Chi Minh City last week, the first time the meeting has been in Vietnam since the bank established operations here 136 years ago. Michael Smith, president and CEO of HSBC Asia Pacific, spoke to VIR’s Duong Nguyen about the bank’s business strategies in the Vietnamese market.

HSBC has named Vietnam as one of its top priority markets in the Asia-Pacific region. “Vietnam is a huge potential market. It is one of the emerging markets in Asia-Pacific where we are deeply keen to expand our operations,” HSBC Asia Pacific president and CEO Michael Smith said after an informal shareholders’ meeting in Hong Kong last Tuesday.